Primitive Christianity in its Contemporary Setting

by Rudolf Karl Bultmann

Bultmann examines the origins of Christianity in other religious traditions including Judaism, Greek paganism & the mystery religions.
Translator's Preface
Introduction
The Old Testament Heritage
Judaism
The Greek Heritage
Hellinism
Primitive Christianity
Bibliography & Notes
Index of Names & Subjects

Genres: Religion, Theology, Christianity, History

241 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Rudolf Karl Bultmann (August 20, 1884, Wiefelstede – July 30, 1976, Marburg) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament at the University of Marburg. He was one of the major figures of early 20th century biblical studies and a prominent voice in liberal Christianity.

Bultmann is known for his belief that the historical analysis of the New Testament is both futile and unnecessary, given that the earliest Christian literature showed little interest in specific locations.] Bultmann argued that all that matters is the "thatness", not the "whatness" of Jesus, i.e. only that Jesus existed, preached and died by crucifixion matters, not what happened throughout his life.

Bultmann relied on demythologization, an approach interpreting the mythological elements in the New Testament existentially. Bultmann contended that only faith in the kerygma, or proclamation, of the New Testament was necessary for Christian faith, not any particular facts regarding the historical Jesus.

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

What seems to me to be an objective discussions of the various intellectual currents in the ancient world that were circulating, influencing each other, and ultimately influencing the early concepts of the first Christians. The figure of Jesus embodied a variety of thinking about the Jewish messiah; about the nature of the Godhead and its manifestation in the world, as the late Hellenic pagans saw it; about the relation of spirit and matter, the duality of the inferior material world and the ideal spiritual world, that obsessed the Gnostics. A persuasive case for the syncretistic nature of early Christian thinking, and the difficulty of sorting out of all this what orthodox thought should be.
A quite readable account of some rather dense and thorny intellectual issues.
I will remember that it was The Dream of Scipio that instigated by reading of Moses and Monotheism and returning to this book, nearly 50 years after reading it for Geoghegan's religion class.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good, conservative introduction to the ideological and cultural background of early Christianity.
Bultmann was prominent in the curricula of both Grinnell College's Department of Religion and Union Theological Seminary's Biblical Studies Department.

[Wyatt Houtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demythologizing is dated, however bultmann's summary of primitive christianity theories and comparisons makes this bultmann's most useful book, even if you disagree with him.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This classic work on the kind of thought that went into the making of the Christian sect takes a rather mainstream somewhat-secular scholarly approach to the subject, arguing that Christian practice is a mix of Jewish practice, mystery religions, and Greek philosophy. Although a translation from German, the text reads very much like a lyrical sermon in places, which one might think would wear thin but which actually grew on me. Bultmann quotes extensively from the scriptures, and although there is a fairly robust notes section, he seems often to avoid pointing to other scholars for his assertions, which makes for something of a need to take Bultmann at his word. That he is making claims many other scholars make means this may not be as problematic as it might sound; at the same time, too much emphasis on common ideas means that one isn't necessarily given reason to be convinced of some assertions since there isn't recall to actual primary sources (let alone, secondary) for them.

Bultmann starts with Jewish (really Old Testament) ideas about creation and the afterlife, largely asserting that such ideas grew out of Canaanite and Babylonian religion. Only after Jewish society mixed with that of Persia did ideas about resurrection begin to take shape within the Jewish faith itself. This is a common assertion but one that is not without those who have claimed otherwise—one wouldn't know that there are disagreements with regard to where the teaching about the resurrection derived from reading Bultmann, however. Still, one of the most interesting points Bultmann makes is how the Jewish faith became increasingly future oriented, as its own national problems and eventual demise took shape. That future orientation would in turn, to an extent, set up early Christian teachings, even as Christianity would itself eventually take more of a focus on the present, once it became clear Christ's second coming was not in the near future, though the “future” would survive in the Christian orientation toward an afterlife.

Bultmann then explores Greek philosophy—most especially its growth out of concerns regarding the governorship of the city-state. As the city-state fell by the wayside, other views came to the fore, including Stoicism and the various mystery religions. Bultmann does a great job of showing parallels between these two sets of beliefs with Christian belief, including lack of tie to specific cultures, and openness to peoples of all classes. (Bultmann does not, however, seem at all cognizant of the belief among many scholars that many of the so-called mystery religions did not gain widespread appeal until the second century, after primitive Christianity would have forged its basic ideas; if that is the case, then such religions may have affected Christianity in the second century and later but likely had much less influence on the first decades of the faith.)

Bultmann also looks at the influence of Gnosticism on the church, drawing comparisons between the two systems, mostly looking at parallels, such as a belief in a redeemer and renunciation of concerns with the physical world. A final section looks at early Christian ideas and how all these varying influences helped to forge what became Christianity.

[Stephen Runyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is broken up into 2 halves: The first hundred pages is the Hebraistic effect on Christianity and the second hundred pages is the influence of Greek culture on Christianity. I would even go further to subdivide the Greek half into two halves itself: The first being Greek philosophy and the second half being the culmination of it on Primitive (and ultimately modern) Christianity.

The first half (the Hebrew) was very informative. The philosophical portion of the second half was mostly useless, as I often find philosophy to be. However, the final quarter of the book was the true climax of this work. It held the most significant portions of the book in total. In fact, the closer to the end of the book I got, the less I wanted it to end as I found myself in increasing agreement and interest in what Bultmann had to say.

[Adam Gossman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frustrating at times, as Bultmann is most of the time. However, the interplay between various religious and philosophical schools was quite good. Let it be known I do give Bultmann an extra star out of reverence. Not a bad book, just frustrating.

[Joe Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the work of Bultmann.

[Alan Swartz]

Primitive Christianity in its contemporary setting by Rudolf Karl Bultmann (1956)

[AlexWatson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excised from the controvery of Bultmann, this text would make a fine choice for 100-200 level course.